Losing grip in combat
by Lightningshapedscar
Summary: The Battle of Hogwarts is underway. Ron loses both Harry and Hermione while caught in all of the chaos. He sets out to find Hermione first, and is willing to risk everything for her safety.


The castle walls were falling in around him, as he turned on the spot. Tears spilling from his eyes as he called out, "HERMIONE!".. "HERMIONE!". The icy night air stung his chest with every breath. Tear tracks glistened on his face as flashes of coloured light came from every angle. His head was aching at the thought that she might be gone forever. Her hand has slipped from his grip in mid-battle. He hated himself for not holding on, for not gripping her hand more tightly. His body was in agony.

Gryffindor tower was visible in the night sky as the Protective Enchantments surrounding the castle were devoured by Dark magic. Ron felt the wind sting an open wound on his face. He couldn't move, and felt as if he never would have any need to move again, without her, without Hermione. Bodies of people he had once shared conversations with lay scattered across the grounds of a place where he had once felt safe. Every sound Ron heard felt so close, though it they came from hundreds of feet away. He was terrified. Terrified for his life, for the lives of his family, friends, and the only girl he had ever loved. Distance screams disturbed him, gave his cold shivers down his spine. As much as it was, Ron found it hard to believe that this war, this battle, was reality. That other witches and wizards were falling like dominos, murdered, all over the castle, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. His heart hurt at the thought that anything could happen to her, to Hermione. He thought of how he would blame himself if she was hurt. He wanted to protect her and had failed. She trusted him to do so and he had let her down. He needed to find her. She needed him to find her.

He broke into a run. Most of the castle was unrecognisable and destroyed by the battle commencing around him. "HERMIONE!" Ron cried out as he clumsily stumbled through piles of rubble and debris. He sprinted up stone steps. However, upon reaching the top, found the corridor had been completely wiped out. He stood on the top step which hung over an annihilated corridor. From his standing point, the entrance hall and courtyard were visible. They, too, had been desolated by the battle happening there. Ron watched, as hundreds of people duelled alongside a huge variation of magical creatures. He was witnessing people die, before his eyes.

Drawing himself away from the sight of the battle scene, he ran back down worn stone steps. He continued down the dark, exposed remains of a school corridor. "HERMIONE!" he kept calling for her, "HERMIONE!". He came to a ruined courtyard. Limp bodies lay on the cobbled ground, stars glistened in their vacant eyes. He thought about how young the children were, and how their families would feel to see him walking around their lifeless sons and daughters as he headed towards the Suspension bridge. Battle cries grew fainter and he ran further and further from the prime focus of combat. He dodged toppling boulders, clutching his wand. His heart sank at the thought that he might never hear Hermione speak again, that he might never again get to feel the touch of her skin on his. His ears felt cold, as did his hands but he carried on.

A piercing scream filled his ears as he came to a corner. He pressed his back against the damp wall. Peering around the corner, he saw her, Hermione, squirming away from a threatening Death Eater with his wand drawn. "DON'T TOUCH HER!" Ron bellowed as he ran from the corner. The Death Eater swung around before Ron could aim his wand. "Crucio!" yelled the man cloaked in black. Hermione screamed aloud as Ron collapsed to the floor in excruciating pain. "Crucio!" He chanted again as Ron wriggled on the floor, screaming. Hermione looked traumatised by the sight she was witnessing. Tears welled in her eyes as she watched him cry in agony. "Stop it! Stop!" she shouted as she ran and pushed the Death Eater aside. Ron lay still on the ground coughing. The Death Eater turned to Hermione. Gripping her arm, he threw her against the stone castle walls. Her limp body sank to the ground. Pieces of shattered glass cracked and shifted as she landed on them. Ron stretched out his arm to retrieve his wand. Hermione wailed as she watched the Death Eater approach her. Raising his wand, he pointed it at her. "Ron!" she whimpered. "Avada Kedavra!".

Ron dropped his wand and fell to his knees, tears streaming from his eyes. He was panted heavily as he watched the Death Eater's body fall to the hard ground. Hermione sat, sobbing into her hands, with the dead body at her feet. Ron staggered to his feet and rushed to her side. Her knees wobbled while he helped Hermione to her up from the ground. He rested his chin on the crown of her head. He held onto her tightly as she bawled. She shuddered, trying to control her breathing.

Ron carefully pulled her head from his chest and whipped the tears from her cheeks. The moon glistened in her brown eyes as he glared into them and they glared back. He swept his fingers through her hair. Pulling her closer, he kissed her. Hermione's hands slowly wrapped their way around Ron's neck as they responded to his cold hand on her cheek. Everything was forgotten in that one moment that he had been waiting seven years for. He wanted to hold onto her forever. The way her fingers felt as they brushed through his hair. The way her lips felt on his. In that single moment, Ron felt happier than he had in over a year.

As he softening his grip on Hermione, and the kiss ended, she smiled at him. Resting her head on his shoulder, he clung onto her and kissed her on the forehead. "I'm sorry." he whispered. "For what?" she replied. "I should have never let you go earlier." "Ron. It was more of my own fault, not yours." "I should have never let you leave my side. I'm going to protect you, even if I die trying Hermione." Ron claimed. She looked him in surprise and honour. "I - Ron, I.." "You don't have to say anything. But, we need to get back out there and fight for this, for Harry, for us. We have to do this." Hermione nodded in agreement, still stricken by his words. "Give me your hand." Ron said, as he turned to head back the way he had came. She slipped her hand into his grip and they began to run.

Hermione gasped at the sight of the numerous school students motionless bodies spread across the courtyard where she had remembered gathering around a bluebell flame during winter of their first year with Ron and Harry. "It all looks so different." Hermione expressed. "It's all so battered and ruined. It used to be so beautiful here." She looked up at the castle. There were no lights glowing through the windows. Something that was once so luminescent in the night sky, now seemed dead.

The emotions Ron was feeling were overwhelming. He was being flooded with thoughts of his family and of his best friend but at the same time, was focusing on keeping Hermione safe. Darting down the crumbled remains of a corridor, they climbled over large boulders and hills of rubble. Ron felt as though he was being smothered by the dust and fragements floating in the night air. They came to a halt at the steps Ron had been to earlier that evening. He and Hermione ascended up the stairs that led to nowehere.

"We need to find a way through all of this wreckage and get over there. That's where it's all happening. I know Harry won't be over there, so we need to find him first. Wherever he is, he's not going to be alone. He'll have a load of them on his trail and we need to help him." Ron declared as he pointed towards the entrance courtyard. "Ron - this is a suicide mission. Yes, we have to find Harry but do you think it's best to walk straight into that? It brutal Ron. People are dropping like hats over there!" Hermione responded. "Listen," Ron continued, "we need to do this for all of those kids who've died back there for us. We need to do it for the parents who're out there now, risking everything for the safety of the next generation. We need to do this for a better future, Hermione. I swore to myself that I would protect you and I know that walking into combat doesn't seem like the best way, but it's a hell of a lot better than letting you stay here alone waiting to be attacked. The best way for me to keep you safe is to keep you with me and that's what I plan to do. We can end this whole thing once and for all and I need you there with me every step of the way." Hermione looked over at the battle scene happening in the entrance courtyard, and back at Ron. "I know, Ron. I know. Even though you're being really thick, I admire your chivalry." Hermione implied. Ron stared at her as she watched, distressed, the struggle of many witches and wizards in the distance. "Come on then." Ron urged, squeezing her hand and turning to dash back down the stone steps.


End file.
